


How She Could Fly

by Terygon



Series: Shorthalt's Shining Show [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Dom/sub, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-23 15:36:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9663830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terygon/pseuds/Terygon
Summary: Vox Machina are the main attractions of Shorthalt's Shining Show. One of their trapeze artists is having problems.





	1. Flying

**Author's Note:**

> I have no connections to neither the circus nor dom/sub subcultures. Furthermore Vex and Percy are learning about dom/sub as they go. Whatever I got wrong... well, AU and all. Absolutely no offense is intended.
> 
> Also, any suggestions/comments re: the title (or anything else, for that matter) would be welcomed.
> 
> Also-also, the explicit starts in the fourth chapter (if you count talking about stuff) or the fifth (if you don't).

By the gods, she was beautiful when she flew.  
  
Her archery was incomparable, her way with animals bordered on the mystical, but on the trapeze she was incandescent. No matter what Percival needed to accomplish, he always found himself in the big top when the twins were on.  
  
Their practices were interesting to watch, but she really shone during a performance: swinging from the pedestal on the main tent pole to meet Jarret hand to wrist after amazing spins, somersaults and twists; returning to the fly bar, then alighting on their stand; graciously receiving the audience's adoration until her brother took off for his own flight.  
  
They'd reached the peak of their act. They passed each other mid-flight, one over, one under, without pause, pivoting on the bar instead of landing. The individual passes weren't the most difficult they performed, but coming one after the other made the timing even more critical.  
  
She spun a single somersault with a double twist, her hands slapping onto Jarret's wrists. Her return was a simple half twist, but her hand must have slipped. As Vex fell, Percy discovered that one's heart could actually jump into one's throat.  
  
The twins worked without a net.  
  
As the windjammers swung into 'Stars and Stripes Forever', his feet started to run, but someone shoulder-blocked him, then grabbed his arm. Shane growled into his ear. “Don't freak the rubes, right? Grog has it.”  
  
He heard Scanlan shouting for the big man, but he had already jumped the curb while running into the ring. When he was centered below her falling figure, he gave a short whistle, then jumped up to meet her. At the sharp sound Vex stopped her panicked flailing, rolled and fell the last few feet to Grog's arms with her back down.  
  
The audience's screams silenced when they landed. The hush held as the pair maintained their position, then erupted when Vex spun out of Grog's grasp and the two styled to the audience, joined hands raised high, then ran out of the tent.  
  
As Percy dashed after them, he heard Scanlan hiss, “Crisis Averted Routine Three!”  
  
And the clowns did their job.


	2. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy finds out why Vex fell.

The string of expletives coming from the clearing ahead was language hardly befitting the daughter of a ranking diplomat, but Percy had long since decided that probably had been the original point of speaking in that manner. By now the use of those words was likely more habit than anything.  
  
“Shit Fuck BALLS!”  
  
Habit combined with a large dosage of frustration, it appeared. He heard her bowstring whistle as he reached the treeline; he would have paused there to watch her (a favorite passtime of his), but the bowstring whistle was followed by a high-pitched sound, something between a whine and the whimper of a small, injured animal.  
  
“Vex?” At the sound of his voice, Vex'ahlia spun to face him, then turned away just as quickly, but not before he saw the gleam of tears on her cheeks.  
  
“Good morning, Percy darling.” If he hadn't seen the tears, he might not have noticed the strain in her voice. “Am I needed on site for something?”  
  
“No, you're needed here. I need you to talk to me.”  
  
He stepped up beside her. “Talk? Certainly, dear. Whatever about?”  
  
There was, of course, a reason he came to find her, but her distress drove it to the bottom of his list of priorities. Turning to face her, he saw her chin stiffen, her attention focused on the opposite side of the clearing. He turned her towards himself, swiping his thumb across her cheek.  
  
“Vex'ahlia, what's wrong?”  
  
She straightened her shoulders, breathed in deeply and raised her gaze to meet his. Her cocky grin of reassurance was betrayed by a sudden flood of tears. Her mouth opened and closed as if she wanted to speak, her face fell and she rested her forehead on his chest, his arms closing gently around her. Minutes later she met his eyes once more, then stared across the clearing again.  
  
Percy followed her eyeline to an archery target set up a good distance away, although it was closer than her practice targets usually were. He immediately saw the problem; out of the four arrows in the target none were within the inner four rings, and there was no grouping at all. Vex turned back to face him, raising her hands when she saw she had his attention.  
  
They shook. The movements couldn't quite be called actual spasms, but there was a definite tremor in her normally rock steady fingers.  
  
“Is it from the fall?”  
  
Vex nodded, then grimaced and shook her head. “It started about a month ago, but I could control it then. Take a few minutes, sit down, breathe deeply, that would take care of it.  
  
“But it keeps getting worse.” The words started tumbling out of her mouth. “I thought I had it under control, but they're getting worse. I can't shoot, I fell off the trapeze, and I'm starting to get nervous around the animals. Not Trinket, of course, but Raj, the lions, even the horses – ”  
  
He brought her back into his embrace, but she pulled away.  
  
“No, you don't understand! It's not just my hands. Everything's out of control. I only got fifteen percent off the arena fee in Galveston. I couldn't – ”  
  
“Shhh.” He stepped forward to hold her again. Although caveman wasn't his usual style, he held onto her even when she tried to pull away. It didn't take long for her to stop resisting, collapsing onto his chest whispering “I can't, I can't, I can't...”  
  
He didn't know how long they stood like that, but eventually he felt her body relax against him.  
  
“All right, first things first.” Percy kissed the top of Vex's head before continuing. “You'll see Pike. She'll give you a full exam, and if it's something medical, we'll deal with it. If not,.. I may have an idea.”


	3. Finding Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex gets a professional opinion.

“Good news,” Pike smiled. “Your blood tests are back and I don't find any physical reason for your shaking.”  
  
Vex's shoulders sagged. “So there's nothing you can do.”  
  
“I didn't say that. I said we've eliminated a lot of the possible causes and the most threatening ones at that. That leaves environmental and psychological. Have you eaten or drunk anything new recently? Have you found yourself drinking more or less alcohol lately? Altered your mood in any new and exciting ways? Noticed any mold around your trailer?”  
  
Vex repeatedly shook her head throughout the very long list of questions, occasionally adding an eyeroll when the answer seemed too obvious. Pike reasoned to the eyerolls by raising her eyebrows with a little shrug, as if to say I know, but I have to ask anyway. When she reached the end of the list, she tapped her pen against the clipboard.  
  
“OK, I'm going to suggest you get Erwin and Laina to check your trailer. Mold and mildew can be sneaky things, but barring any findings,” Pike smiled again, but Vex was pretty sure she caught a hint of concern around the edges. “It looks like we've pretty much eliminated environmental problems.”  
  
“So it's all in my head,” Vex snorted.  
  
She was so rarely the subject of Pike's mom-looks that it was easy to forget how intimidating the tiny blonde doctor could be. Fighting the urge to curl up in a ball and block out the world, Vex instead pushed herself up straight and lifted her chin into the defensive posture that had protected her inner self before she and Vax were first of Mays. (But without the sneer. She had never sneered at Pike, even when they first met. She just couldn't.)  
  
“Vex, I understand that you're frustrated and frightened, but your attitude... well, it's just not helping.”  
  
Their gazes met and Vex felt the stubborn slide out of her shoulders as they sagged. She shrugged, apologizing with her eyes. “OK, what's next?”  
  
“How are you sleeping?”  
  
“All right.” Pike kept looking at her. “When I can shut my brain down.” Pike tilted her head, but still didn't comment. “And when I'm not... dreaming.”  
  
“Dreaming?”  
  
“For certain values of 'dreaming'.”  
  
“One more question.” After a few moments Pike moved to the next subject. “I need you to think back to, say, around a week before you noticed the tremors, OK? I'm not asking for details, at least none you don't want to give me. I just need to know, was there anything you remember that might have pulled a trigger?”  
  
As Vex opened her mouth to answer, Pike cut her off. “No, I need you to think about this. It's important. Was there anything that reminded you of a bad time, a bad person, a bad situation? Maybe it wasn't a memory, but a feeling, like a chill slipping up your spine, or something prickly crawling down your arms. A sense of unease or anxiety that seemed out of place or out of proportion to what was going on? Anything?”  
  
Vex thought, she really did, but nothing like Pike was describing came to mind. She shrugged again, a little helplessly this time.  
  
“That's OK, that's fine,” Pike soothed. “It just confirms what I suspected when you came in. I want you to promise me that if you remember anything, anything at all, that might change your answer to any of these questions you'll come tell me, but unless and until, honey, I think your body's trying to tell you to let go.”  
  
“Let go? Of what?”  
  
“Control.”  
  
“Control? Let go of control? Pike, you know what I do. How am I supposed to 'let go of control'?” Her fingers motioned to make the last words a quote.  
  
“I do know what you do. I know you're an aerialist, a sharpshooter and an animal handler. When you're on, you need to be one hundred percent on, or someone may be hurt. When you're not on, you're practicing to be on. When you're not practicing, you're fixing the pitch so Shorthalt's Shining Show has a place to perform with enough money left to pay us performers. In addition to all that, you're a strong woman with your own sense of morality and practicality. I can't tell you how much I admire that about you.” Pike's gaze had lowered during the last sentence, giving Vex a chance to raise her jaw back off the floor before her friend looked back up. “But, Vex, I'm serious about this. If you don't find some part of your life where you can just let everything go and relax, well, I'm just really worried.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I were trying to publish this I probably wouldn't include this chapter, but hey, I like writing Pike. Sue me :)


	4. Following Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex and Percy consider Pike's diagnosis.

“Then she said I need to 'relax', to 'give up control'. How am I supposed to do that? We saw how well it worked in the air. Should I 'relax' when I'm shooting flaming arrows at my brother? Perhaps I should give my whip and chair to Lotus and Folami and have them put me through my paces.” The large bear laying beside Vex sat up so he could lay his head in her lap. The moan he gave sounded somewhere between an apology, a request and an offer. She reached around his neck so she could cuddle his head while she scratched behind his ears. “Oh, my dear, you are my most beloved Trinket. It's not your fault, and it's not something you can fix.”  
  
Percy needed clarification. “Did she say you have to change or drop one of your acts?” He swallowed before he continued. “Or that you need to leave us entirely?”  
  
“What else could she mean?”  
  
“Not what she meant, not what you think you heard, not what you're afraid will have to happen.” He placed his thumb against her lips, then stroked to the corner of her mouth. “What did she say?”  
  
“I... she said...” Vex closed her eyes, trying to put herself back into Pike's kitchen, sitting at her table. “She said I need... I need something in my life... that I don't have to control. Or maybe can't control, I don't know. Somewhere I can let it all go.”  
  
“Somewhere you can let everything go, hmm? As I said, I have an idea, if you agree.”  
  
“Agree to what?” She would never seal a bargain without knowing everything she was agreeing to.  
  
Instead of answering her, he leaned over and ruffled the bear's ears. “Trinket, would you mind spending some time with your uncle? Your mother and I need to have a private talk.”  
  
Trinket gave Vex his best sad-bear eyes, but she just sent him along with a promise of a very special dinner, along with lots of attention later. He gave a deep sigh only a bear could sigh, sniffed the air, then pushed himself to his feet and wandered away. Percy started to speak, but before he could say anything...  
  
.“Seriously, Scanlan, that sword is longer than you are. No one's going to believe you swallowed it. Hey, Percy, Vex.” Keyleth smiled at her friends and circled her finger around her ear in a subtle (for her) comment on her walking companion's scheme.  
  
Scanlan waved and continued explaining, “Well, that's the thing. I'll have a rig in my pants...”  
  
Fortunately, Scanlan and Keyleth passed out of hearing range before the other two had to hear more about the contents of the little man's pants. Percy again started to speak, but this time he interrupted himself.  
  
“There are too many people out here.” He stood and turned to help Vex out of her chair. “Would you care to join me in my LQ?”  
  
She didn't answer out loud, instead taking his hand, standing up, stepping over to the trailer that was shading the chairs they'd been using. As they entered Vex looked around. They spent most of their together time in her quarters, and the few times they were in his she was thinking about other things than his décor. Now she took it in as he gathered his thoughts. It was much as she'd expected, geegaws and whatsits strewn across the tops of some small tables, an elegant dresser and matching nightstands. The art on the walls ranged from the periodic table of elements to a photo of... her and Trinket?... play wrestling outside her brother's trailer. Where did he get that? The only other thing that surprised her was the queen bed that took the place of the cot she fondly remembered tussling on.  
  
“Nice,” She murmured, stroking her hand along the footboard. “We may be spending more time in here since you have this.”  
  
“That's what I wanted to talk about.”  
  
“Your new bed?”  
  
“Spending more time in here.”  
  
“Why, darling, you only need to ask.” She stepped over to him so she could run the back of her fingers down his face.  
  
Percy caught her fingers, pressed them to his cheek, then brought them down to his chest to hold them between both of his. “Vex, I'm serious. I think this could help your tremors.”  
  
She wanted to respond, but could not for the life of her figure out what to say.  
  
“I don't mean just being here will help. I mean how we'll be here will help.”  
  
She was still stumped.  
  
“Bless Pelor and his bright, shiny sunbeams, I'm explaining this wrong. Let me try again.” He released her hands and scrubbed at his face with his own. Taking a deep breath he started again. “Out there you have all the power you ever had. In your trailer you're in charge, like always. In here, in my place,” he inhaled deeply again, then continued. “My place, my rules.”  
  
“Your place, your rules. That would make me...”  
  
“Yes. In here I'd be dominant, so you'd be-”  
  
“But I'm always... I thought you liked what we do.”  
  
“Oh, I do, I most certainly do,” Percy assured her. “But to be completely honest, I can't imagine very many things we could do together that I wouldn't thoroughly enjoy, and I won't pretend the thought of you... subject to my whims and desires on occasion doesn't make me more than a little tingly.”  
  
“Honestly, dear, 'tingly'?”  
  
He didn't pick up the bait/distraction. “We'd have the same yes-no-please sort of talk we had before you tied me up the first time. Those answers wouldn't really apply. For example, while I like receiving pain in the name of pleasure, I'm not so sure how I'd feel giving the same to you.”  
  
“I don't know if I'd enjoy you giving it to me. Outside of occasional over-exuberence.” Vex's voice was quiet, tentative. “I can't say I'm not somewhat intrigued by the thought, but I'm not sure I could pull it off.”  
  
“Well, there's the key, you see. You wouldn't be pulling anything off. I would.”  
  
“I don't... I...” Why on earth was her voice shaking?  
  
“Shh. It's all right.” Percy kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed, scooting over to sit with his back against the headboard. He took her wrist to give her arm a gentle tug. After she sat down he coaxed her into sitting between his legs, her back against his chest. At first she held herself stiffly, but he began gently squeezing the muscles in her arms and upper body, then he untied her braid and freed her hair to rest on his chest and her shoulders. She finally relaxed as he massaged his fingers across her scalp, and he rewarded her with whispers, his breath puffing warm against her sensitive ear.  
  
“See, my love? It needn't be anymore complicated than this.”  
  
They sat in silence until Vex asked, “Would this involve praise/punishment?”  
  
“Yes, no or please?” Percy countered.  
  
“On my part? I suppose it would be a 'yes'.”  
  
“If it isn't a solid 'please' for you, then it's a 'no' for me. This isn't about giving me more power; it's about giving you a safe place to set yours aside.”  
  
“Hmm.” After a moment she tilted her head back to look at his... chin? “Restraints?”  
  
Percy looked down, meeting her gaze. “Since I would assume they'd be a 'no' for you, restraints would be off the table.”  
  
“Actually, I was thinking a 'no' for now,” her voice shook just a little. “With maybe an option to revisit the question in the future.”  
  
The spark that flashed through his eyes set a low, familiar warmth burning gently in Vex's lower belly. His response came in his own roughened tone.  
  
“I think that would be acceptable.” He rubbed his hands down the tops of her thighs. “Do you want to start now?”  
  
“Maybe just setting up the guidelines. It's hard to agree to an arrangement if I don't know the terms.”  
  
Percy chuckled and rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “That's my Vex. All right. First: out there everything is as it always has been. In here I'm in charge. Second: you choose when and if you enter here. I might offer, I might suggest but I will not, cannot and do not want to order, no matter how much I think you might need it. Third: your options when we're in here are 'keep going' or 'stop'; we can come up with special words later, if you'd like. We may add 'wait' or 'pause' as well, but we'll discuss those. Fourth: no restraints, at least for the time being, and no praise/punishment. Fifth: I don't believe we're reached five. Do you want continue or just stay here and be quiet for a while?”  
  
“How about both?” Vex purred as she rolled her head against his chest.  
  
“How about both? All right, what's next on the list?”  
  
“Humiliation?”  
  
Their gazes met again just before they chorused.  
  
“No.”


	5. Finishing the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex doesn't quite knock on a door. Percy lets her in anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but here it is. It needs editing so suggestions are welcome.

Vex stood outside Percy's door, hand poised to knock, but somehow unable to. He was inside; she could tell. There were shadows cast on the windows, and they moved. He was definitely there, but she just couldn't take the last step she needed to go to him.  
  
They'd talked for hours the afternoon before, so she knew what to expect, but somehow she had no idea what to expect. That point was underscored by the sudden call from inside.  
  
“Vex? Darling, is that you?” Percy opened the door to see her standing there, her hand just pulled back from where the door had been. He took a step back out of the doorway, and asked, “Are you coming in or am I coming out? If it's the latter, I should put my boots back on.”  
  
She still couldn't force words out of her mouth. Looking at him as he stood watching her, she felt a bubble in the base of her belly, growing until it burst into... disgust? Yes, disgust. She stood on his doorstep literally inches from something she might need, something that could save her, something she might possibly actually want in some small, hidden part of herself, and she couldn't take one fucking step in order to grab it. It was pathetic. She was pathetic. She would not be pathetic.  
  
Her chin rose, her shoulders squared and her eyes challenged Percy's. “Why, in of course, dear. Why else would I be here?”  
  
Vex stepped into his trailer, her bravado fading as she looked around the room. It looked the same as it did the day before, but today it was different. They were different. Everything was different.  
  
Percy saw the change. He turned behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “It's all right, you know. One word and it stops before it starts.”  
  
“I don't... want it to stop.” Her words surprised her with their truth.  
  
He turned her to face him, rewarding her with his smile. “Well, then. Let's begin.”  
  
Never breaking their locked gaze, he reached behind his back and brought forward a length of a white silken material that he unfolded between them. He turned her away from him again to tie the silk over her eyes. She shivered.  
  
“Tell me if it's too much,” he murmured into her ear. “But I thought it might help us remember things are a little different in here.”  
  
Vex nodded. She heard the smile in his voice as he almost whispered, “Good.”  
  
He first nudged her back against the bed until she had no choice but to sit. After sliding her boot off, Percy stroked her calf muscle and worked his thumbs against the ball of her foot before repeating his actions on her other leg.  
  
He ran his hand down her arm, took her hand, pulled her to standing and led her a few paces away from the bed. She heard him sit, then he gripped her backside and pulled her to kneal over him, straddling his legs as he sat. He picked her up and set her up against him, only two pair of jeans and one of boxer-briefs (he always wore them) keeping them apart. Keeping his hands on her butt, he leaned a little forward and whispered, “Take your shirt off, darling. I want to see your breasts.”  
  
She straighted up and removed her jacket, unable to resist giving a little wiggle where their bodies met. He immediately responded with a quick, but almost gentle smack on her rump, then grabbed her hips again and immobilized them against his. Taking the non-verbal reminder she started unbuttoning her blouse. She'd chosen not to wear a bra that evening and was rewarded by both his quick inhalation and the quiver she felt between her thighs as her shirt revealed her decision, but was draped to still cover her breasts. As she drew the shirt from her shoulders and chest, the purr he emitted vibrated throughout her body.  
  
“Lean back, my love.”  
  
She reached behind her to lean her hands against his knees as she obeyed, the stretch sending tingles up her back and sides. After she took a deep breath to polish the presentation, his hands clenched hard enough to bruise her ass, and the quiver where their bodies met became a bulge pressing insistently against her. She felt him tilt forward, then it was her to gasp when he wet her nipple with his tongue, then blew gently on it. His lips sucked, nibbled, licked, nipped, and tugged while his hand mimicked the actions on the other side, until she pulled back up and wrapped herself around his head. When his hands and mouth traded off, Vex felt her eyes cross under the blindfold.  
  
She keened when he pulled his mouth away from her breast and his head out of the cage of her arms. He took her wrists, drawing her arms down to her sides as he laved his tongue between her breasts, then up to the base of her throat. As he suckled on the pulse point there his hand gently pushed her head against his neck, just under his jaw, holding her still as she tried to turn her face into his throat so she could reciprocate. Still suckling he slipped his arms under her thighs, lifting and holding her as he rose and took a few steps, then stopped.  
  
He stood still for a moment. As they breathed she felt her breasts rub against his shirt, their highly sensitised state sending an ache directly between her legs. Leaning her back and himself forward Percy laid her gently on what had to be his bed, pillow under her hips, textured spread against her back. He stood back up, his heavy breathing erraticly hitching.  
  
“Darling, unfasten your pants for me.” She complied, thrilling to the growl that seemed to come to his throat from his soul. She started to shimmy them off, but he caught her hands and put them over her head, murmuring something about getting ahead of herself.  
  
After folding her fly open (is it a fly on women's pants?) he smoothed his thumbs over the newly exposed skin, dipping them under the denim every so often. His quiet gasp told her when he realized there was nothing between her jeans and her skin. It wasn't long before he slipped his hands down to take her pants off her hips, down her legs and onto the floor.  
  
“Vex, dear,” his voice purred. “Are you wet for me?”  
  
Her voice cracked a little when she tried to answer, but after clearing her throat she gave another try. “Yes. Yes, I am.”  
  
“But you haven't checked. How can you know if you haven't checked?”  
  
“I – Oh.” Catching the hint, Vex pulled her hand over and laid it over her navel. She slowly moved it down her belly, over her mound and back up between her labia. She found plenty of moisture, but decided to play with him a little, easing two, then three fingers up into herself. Pulling them back out, she offered them as proof. She felt the air move as he inhaled her scent, then he drew her fingers into his mouth, laving them with his tongue. When he started nibbling at them she felt that lovely, familiar bubble slowly start forming deep inside her. He slowly drew her fingers back out, sucking at them as he did.  
  
“Not bad, but I think we can do better.”  
  
He nudged his finger between her lips. She met it with her tongue, tickling with the tip, sliding her width along his length. He let her play for a bit, then slipped the finger away as she felt herself trying to follow it.  
  
He adjusted her hips on the pillow, settled himself between her legs and rested her thighs on his shoulders. Giving an anticipatory chuckle he circled her anus with the finger they'd wet, then eased it inside before she could register disappointment. Receiving anal had never been a favorite of hers, but his finger was smaller and immensely more comfortable than what other men had insisted on putting there. In fact, she was even finding it pleasurable, making the bubble inside her expand more.  
  
At that point coherent thought detonated as Percy flicked her clit with his tongue. He stroked, twitched, pressed, tickled, hummed, sucked, nibbled and nipped, generally proving his assertion that she could be wetter. The bubble in her belly kept growing with her abdominal muscles tensing around it. The tension moved down into her thighs, up into her chest and back, her shoulders, her arms, her neck, growing until she was close, so close. Just as the pull was about to send her over, he pulled his head away to kiss her thigh.  
  
Her body reached for completion, but with him still between her legs, Vex had no access to the friction she needed to finish. Reduced to trembling, just this far from begging, she could only lie there, feeling him cup her mound and move up to lay beside her. He kissed her body, soothing her until her breathing began to even out. She pulled herself together enough to ask, “What – ?  
  
“Mmmm.” Her question changed to a moan as Percy's thumb found her clit. The bubble inside began to inflate again as he once more attended to that sensitive spot, occasionally dipping into her to gather more lubricant. His free hand slipped under her back while his mouth roamed her body. The bubble grew to fill her entirely, and just before it burst he pulled away again. This time she couldn't keep silent.  
  
“Percy, please! I need to, I need you – “  
  
“Are you asking me to stop?”  
  
She growled, almost panicked, “Gods, no, don't stop. I –“  
  
“Then lean back and trust me, love. I won't let you fall until it's time to catch you.” He eased her back down, then moved between her legs again.  
  
His tongue and lips were back at it and the bubble inside was swelling faster than she ever remembered even before he started working his fingers into her. His finger still up her ass, he began to work it, adding a finger as he moved the first, filling her almost, but not quite, too full. As she approached her crest yet again, she whimpered, expecting him to stop, but he continued sucking and tugging until her bubble finally burst.  
  
Orgasm after orgasm slammed through her. The first sent her flying, the second boosted her higher, and the third blasted her out among the stars. After the third she couldn't count any more and just rode out the rest of the spasms. When she could feel what was outside her again, she found herself completely wrecked among the pillows at the head of the bed, Percy lying beside her. He removed her blindfold and tucked her in at his side.  
  
“Bu' P'rcy...” she mumbled, flopping her hand in the general direction of the bulge in his jeans.  
  
He caught her hand to kiss her fingertips. Stretching out beside her, he pulled her close against him. “Rest for now, my darling Vex. Do you actually think our evening's activities are over?”  
  


* * *

Percy looked down at the woman who held his heart. She lay across him with one leg tucked between his, her hair spread over her back and his front. Her breathing ruffled the hairs on his chest, and he tucked a lock of hers from the corner of her mouth to behind her ear, adding a light stroke over her head just because he could.

He considered it a successful experiment, pending her agreement, but he was quite sure she wouldn't argue against the conclusion. There had been a few points where she'd tried to take control; he was pretty sure it was just habit, though, and anyway they'd work on it.

She was sprawled across him in her usual post-coital collapse, but instead of the satisfied smirk that she normally wore at such times, her mouth was turned up into a gentle, maybe even sweet smile he couldn't remember ever seeing her direct toward anyone over the age of fifteen. He wanted to run his thumb lightly against her lips, but she was so relaxed he wouldn't risk waking her. After all, that was the point of their little exercise, wasn't it?

She amazed him in so many ways. He thought of the sharp smile she wore after she haggled fees and prices to under half what was first quoted, and how her eyes twinkled as she teased her brother out of the darkest of his many moods. Her archery was incomparable, her way with animals bordered on the mystical, and on the trapeze she was incandescent.

But, by the gods, she was beautiful when she flew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy moly, it wasn't supposed to take so long. It wasn't supposed to _be_ this long. Hope you enjoyed.


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